A former School Resource Officer in Vance County, North Carolina, received jail time following an altercation in 2019 when he assaulted a middle school student. Warren Durham will spend just under two months in jail after he pleaded guilty to body-slamming an 11-year-old boy at Vance County Middle School.
The incident occurred just over a year ago on December 12, 2019. Footage from the school's security camera recorded Durham and the student walking down a hallway when the officer slammed him to the ground twice before dragging him down the hall by his shirt.
Durham, who had worked with the department for two years without incident, was placed on administrative leave after the assault and fired days later. According to his attorney, Durham has PTSD stemming from spending time in the Middle East and has no memory of the assault.
Prosecutors had charged Durham with misdemeanor child abuse, but those charges were dropped when he pleaded guilty to assault of a child under 12 and willful failure to discharge duties. He will spend 55 days in jail for the assault charge. He had also been sentenced to 45 days for his failure to discharge duties, according to WRAL, but District Court Judge John Davis suspended the sentence and placed him on an 18-month probation.
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